Microsoft Word often displays gridlines to help you align text, images, tables, and other objects. While these gridlines don’t print by default, they can be distracting while editing. If you want a cleaner workspace, it’s easy to remove gridlines in Word for Office 365.
This guide covers all the methods to hide or remove gridlines, including table gridlines, background gridlines, and drawing guides.
What Are Gridlines in Microsoft Word?
Gridlines in Word serve as a visual guide:
-
They help align text, images, tables, and shapes.
-
They do not print unless you enable borders.
-
They make document layout more precise and organized.
There are two main types of gridlines in Word:
-
Table Gridlines – appear when you insert a table without borders.
-
Document Gridlines / Drawing Guides – used for aligning objects on the page.
Method 1: Remove Table Gridlines
If your table shows light gray lines (table gridlines) and you want them gone:
Step-by-Step:
-
Select the Table
-
Click anywhere inside the table.
-
Or use the table move handle at the top-left corner.
-
-
Open Table Design Tab
-
In the Ribbon, click Table Design (or Design under Table Tools).
-
-
Toggle Gridlines
-
In the Table Styles group, look for View Gridlines.
-
Click it to hide the table gridlines.
-
Note: This does not remove actual borders; if you want to remove borders, choose Borders → No Border from the same menu.
Method 2: Remove Drawing or Background Gridlines
If Word shows gridlines behind objects like shapes or text boxes:
Step-by-Step:
-
Open the Layout Tab
-
Go to the Layout tab in the Ribbon.
-
-
Open Align Options
-
Click Align → View Gridlines in the Arrange group.
-
-
Turn Off Gridlines
-
Uncheck View Gridlines.
-
This removes non-printing gridlines used for aligning shapes and other objects.
Method 3: Remove Snap-to-Grid Settings
Sometimes objects appear aligned to gridlines due to the Snap-to-Grid setting. To remove this:
-
Go to Layout → Align → Grid Settings.
-
In the Drawing Grid dialog box, uncheck:
-
Snap objects to grid
-
-
Click OK to save the changes.
This disables automatic alignment with gridlines, giving you free control over object placement.
Quick Tips
-
Print Preview: Gridlines will not print unless you manually add borders.
-
Temporary Hide: You can toggle gridlines on/off as needed without affecting the document.
-
Word vs. Excel: Unlike Excel, Word gridlines are for visual guidance only.
Summary Table
| Gridline Type | How to Remove |
|---|---|
| Table Gridlines | Table Design → View Gridlines |
| Table Borders | Table Design → Borders → No Border |
| Drawing / Background Gridlines | Layout → Align → View Gridlines (uncheck) |
| Snap-to-Grid Alignment | Layout → Align → Grid Settings → Uncheck Snap to Grid |
Conclusion
Removing gridlines in Microsoft Word for Office 365 is simple once you know which type of gridline you’re dealing with. Use the Table Design tab to hide table gridlines, the Layout tab for drawing gridlines, and disable Snap-to-Grid for precise free-form placement of objects. Following these steps will give you a clean, distraction-free workspace for your documents.
